Domestic.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXVI, Issue 7, 20 February 1908, Page 33

Domestic.

By ' Maureen*

A Poisoned Finger.

If any of the little ones is unfortunate enough to get this, it must be dipped several times a d*ay for ten mdnutes at a time in water as hot as can be born 6to which a little Condy's fluid, has been added. The fluid and water should be a bright pink color. As . soon as it turns brown, it has lost all purifying power. Immediately the finger is taken out of ' thewater wrap it in a bit of clean rag spread with boracic ointment. Bind a piece of oiled silk over, or use one of the india rubber binds sold by the chemists. How to Appear Thin. A stput woman Ca~n make herself look much thinner by wearing trimmings that^run in vertical lines, but never in horizontal. She can look more slender still by wearing perfectly plain materials, with no stripes or figures at all. And the best color for her is black or very dark) blue. Her materials are fine, glossy, broadcloths ; thin, delicate, dark voiles ; the softest of deep canvases, and all the lovely, fine, dark goods. She sihould never try the showy heavy stuffs, and she should never wear plaids, checks, stripes, or flowered materials. ' • Dusters. Dusters are very important factors in the household machinery, their object being oTMously to conquer the dust fiend, but if proper attention is not given to them they defeat their own ends, and disseminate rather than dispel dust. They should be made as far as possible of soft stuff, and- should always be hemmed, which is 1 easily done with a machine. Dusters should be washed out directly they are soiled, this both for clean-, liness and for destroying any .germs that may be lurking in the dust.* They should then be folded aod put away in a place specially set aside for them, which prevents them from getting mixed- up with tea or glass towels. This does not take rrucfi time, but saves £ lot of trouble. Oil of Lavender. Oil of lavender is a very useful thing to' keep in the house, especially at this ,time of the year when flies and insect pests abound. If flies worry an invalid try this plan : — Saturate a tiny sponge with the oil, and hang it near the head of the bed or the couch on which -the invalid is resting. The flies object to the smejl of the --lavender, and will not '.come .near it, thus adding to the- invalid's comfort. Then if the atmosphere of a room has become stuffy, place a few drops, of oil of _ lavender in an ornanrental bowl half-filled with boiling water, and open the window ; or bring in a few live coals into the ' room on a fire shovel and pwir a few- drops of the oil on, and the stuffy odor will soon disappear. In some cases oil of lavender is found useful as a preventive of mosquito bites, rublbed on the face and hands. Wrapping Food in Paper. It is a very common practice to leave any food that comes from the grocer, etc., in the brown paper in which the dealer wraps it. While this may be cor»venient, it certainly ?s open to serious objection,- on the score of health and cleanliness. Most of the cheap papers are made from material hardly up to the standard of the housekeeper's idea of cleanliness. When it is taken into consideration that waste papers of all sorts, and those used for all purposps, are gathered up and worked into new pa.per to wrap our food in, it behoves the housewife, who cares for the health of her family, to see that the articles of food remain in contact with such wrapping as short a time as possible. It is not unusual to see butter, cheese, ham, etc., put away in the cheapest brown paper. Immediately upon" receipt of soft groceries they should be taken out of Hi ir wrappings and .put into earthan dishes.